Run for the Roses #143

Every first Saturday in May, most people in Kentucky stop for at least a couple of minutes to turn toward the television and join the rest of the world to take in Kentucky’s showcase sporting event, the most exciting two minutes in sports – the Kentucky Derby.

An amateur thoroughbred racing fan myself – mostly I enjoy the atmosphere of a day at the track and camaraderie of Derby Day amongst friends – I’ve followed the Kentucky Derby for a few decades now, trying to analyze records, look at the combo of jockey and trainers and also taking a wild guess or two in order to place a few modest bets.

This year – I can’t really remember when I’ve waited on a Kentucky Derby field to be led into the starting gate with as little fanfare as there has been this year.

Seems there are no clear favorites and really not a lot of excitement as we head into the final few days before Saturday’s Run for the Roses.

All of that said, I’m still going to go out on a limb here and throw a couple of bets out here in case you want to take my advice and drop a couple of $2 bets just for fun.

Girvin, a Joe Sharp trained horse with Mike Smith up, appears to be one of the early favorites, despite suffering a minor injury earlier in the year. If he’s on his best performance, this horse could be the first across the line. He’s worth a two-dollar bet.

Best name for a Derby entry bet this year goes to – Thunder Snow, who was an early 25-1 shot was trained by Saeed bin Surror, and will be running with Christophe Soumillon up. Other than the name, none of that matters to me simply because the Gibson family lives in the Snow Community of Clinton County and the area is well known by every insurance agent in the county as being one of the most lightning prone spots around. Gotta be worth a $2 bet for me.

Finally, since there is very little excitement surrounding this 143rd Kentucky Derby, I’m going to throw out yet another good name bet just to make it interesting. Put $2 down on Practical Joke, trained by Chad Brown with Joel Rosario up. An early 15-1 bet, PJ reportedly seems to be moving in the right direction to make the distance in Saturday’s race.

Besides, I always loved a practical joke so what can you lose ($6 at the most).

Post time for Saturday’s race is 5:43 p.m. Central time and the weather forecast for race time says cloudy with a slight chance of showers.

At least spend a couple of minutes Saturday enjoying the Derby – most of the rest of the world will be looking onto Kentucky, you might as well too.

Let’s take it outside!